Help! Newbie questions!

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

I have a 2- 3 months Veiled cham. I was told to give him 7 to 8 pinheads daily then i read in here that have to be like 20-25 pinheads. I fed him in two rounds this day. Morning like 10 am i gave him 11 pinheads and after noon I gave him 11 more and only ate 6.

Idk if I'm doing it right. Also how I count the crikets... they are so tiny and so fast How i can catch them?

Also I'm a concerned that I'm handlin him too much. I dont want him to stress because I have him in a 20 gals aquarium till tomorrow that i finish his "temporary screend cage" will be like 12" x 12" x 24" till he grow and I will built another one 24" x 24" x 48" (aprox... maybe bigger).

So to be shorter because i have him in the aquarium i think is too big for him to catch his pinheads. so i put him in a small plastic "betta fish" aquarium with a branch and all his crickets, and watch him how he hunts.

If i'm doing it wrong please tell me how so i have not to move him all the time from the 20 gals aquiarium (or screened cage from tomorrow on) to the smallets aquiarium to give him his food.

gavriel · Apr 14, 2013

For a baby growing up, feeding needs to be monitored. Only put in what he will eat and two rounds of feeders is ok, but the bulk should be in the morning. Say for example, after you determine his average consumption per day, lets say 14. If you want to do 2 feedings, 10 should be put in for breakfast, with the last 4 a few hours later. I did only one feeding during the day and 30 minutes after lights out while he slept, I would used a small light and find the remainders and remove them with a straw. They sometimes will climb right in if you angle it right.
Are you sure he needs pin heads. A good rule of thumb is to use the width of their jaw as a gauge. So if his jaw is 1/2 inch wide, you could go up in size and offer a smaller amount of crickets or even try a slower food source like silkworms which are higher in protein and water, but also much slower.
As for the beta fish tank, that is way to small. The 20 gal aquarium, would probably suit him pretty well and stepping up your enclosure sizes is really good. Just step them up as he grows and if you free range your feeders in the cage, always be sure and monitor that he is able to "hunt" down all his food. Use plenty of branches for mobility to hunt. If you go to big to fast, he wont be able to find food and you'll start finding live feeders everywhere.
Stick with the 20 gal tank for right now and refrain from moving/handling him to much, let him settle in his new environment so he don't stress and as you feed/mist him, he will begin to tolerate your presence and eventually associate you with food. This will help making it easier in the future for cleaning and handling.

carol5208 · Apr 14, 2013

I would get him out of the aquarium. They are really not suited for chameleons and do not have ventilation on the bottom. Put him in the small screen cage and cup feed. Or search how to make one of the feeder stations out of a milk jug or soda liter. You cut out the front and line the back with screen. I would not keep moving him from cage to cage to feed. Stick with the small screen cage and you will be fine. Even if you let the crickets loose, you will be amazed how they can find them. They usually tend to gravitate towards the lights.

sandrachameleon · Apr 14, 2013

Hi

Feed him as much as he can eat in about 5 minutes, two or three times a day (morning and afternoon, not late in the day). You dont need to count the pinheads, but you should lightly dust them with a calcium supplement and you need to feed/gutload the crickets. He should be able to eat one week old crickets soon if not already, which are easier to deal with than pinheads. You'll also what to add other feeder/prey items to his diet. Fruit flies and bean beetles and baby silkworms and pheonix worms (soldier fly maggots) are good options for a baby cham.

Longer term, a fish aquarium is Not a suitable cage for a chameleon, so its good that you are switching to a different cage.
Do not move him back and forth for feeding. Leave him in his normal cage. Use a bowl (placed under a favourite perch) if you are worried about keep the crickets contained and easy for him to catch.

Here are some links to information that should be useful to a newbie chameleon keeper

Brandonmh · Apr 14, 2013

I was going to say cup feed him as well. Mine only took one cricket in front of me, and that was because it was on the plants where he was and he held it in his mouth til I left. I think he actually spit it out later, it may have been too big. I now hand pick smaller ones about the width of his head and put them in a two pound deli/salad container. I have an 8oz one as well for mealies and the like, also using the small red ceriamic dish from my beardies at times. The 2 lb container is slick sided so they can't crawl out and close to 6 in high so hard for even bigger ones to get out. I gave him 5 wax worms this morn and have 8 crickets in the big container ready to go in as well. I usally wedge the container between the screen wall and a vine, it also sits on another perch, but I also poked to small holes and ran a tie band small enough to fit thru the mesh screen and tie to branches.

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

Is there any link with cup feeding instructions? I'll going to read that links right now Sandrachameleon, Thanks!.

Thanks guys for your help im a first timer chameleon owner

(you probably already knew it)

Brandonmh · Apr 14, 2013

I'm not sure of a link but books wise: older but was good, Essential care of chameleons by Philippe de Vosjoli; Chameleons care and breeding of Jackson's, Panther, Veiled and Parson's by Gary Ferguson, Kenneth Kalisch, and Sean McKeown; Chameleons in captivity by Conni Dorval.

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

ohh thanks i'll look for it! I finished my cage! I put a post on enclosure section with pictures if you want to see

ReptileLove18 · Apr 14, 2013

Yarinil said:
Is there any link with cup feeding instructions? I'll going to read that links right now Sandrachameleon, Thanks!.

Thanks guys for your help im a first timer chameleon owner (you probably already knew it)

i dont know of a link for cup feeding instructions, however heres the basics!

you can either use a small styrophoam cup, attached to the side of the cage or nestled in the branches where your cham can get to it.

or, you can make a feeding station which will last longer in the long run and i believe keeps the feeders contained better as well. here is a link to a thread showing a feeding station a member made. https://www.chameleonforums.com/sprite-bottle-insect-feeder-101782/?highlight=sprite+bottle+feeder its really easy, you use a milk jug or a soda jug, cut part of it out, leaving a lip to keep the feeders in, put some screen/mesh in for the feeders to climb on, and either cover the edges of the bottle where you cut it or melt it slightly so your cham's tongue doesnt get stuck or cut on it! then attach it to the side of the cage next to some branches where your cham can get to it.

with either one of these cup feeding options, you put the feeders in it in the morning generally (you dont want them eating after about 4 hours before lights out, they need time to bask and digest) and let them go to it! it is generally recommended to pull feeders that have not been eaten out before lights out also

hope this helped some!

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

ReptileLove18 said:
i dont know of a link for cup feeding instructions, however heres the basics!

you can either use a small styrophoam cup, attached to the side of the cage or nestled in the branches where your cham can get to it.

or, you can make a feeding station which will last longer in the long run and i believe keeps the feeders contained better as well. here is a link to a thread showing a feeding station a member made. https://www.chameleonforums.com/sprite-bottle-insect-feeder-101782/?highlight=sprite+bottle+feeder its really easy, you use a milk jug or a soda jug, cut part of it out, leaving a lip to keep the feeders in, put some screen/mesh in for the feeders to climb on, and either cover the edges of the bottle where you cut it or melt it slightly so your cham's tongue doesnt get stuck or cut on it! then attach it to the side of the cage next to some branches where your cham can get to it.

with either one of these cup feeding options, you put the feeders in it in the morning generally (you dont want them eating after about 4 hours before lights out, they need time to bask and digest) and let them go to it! it is generally recommended to pull feeders that have not been eaten out before lights out also

hope this helped some!

But i read that if you use the cup feeder... you're not giving him/her the chance to exercise himself and will have problems with the MBD. Remember mine is 2 or 3 months old.. he/she is tiny!

sandrachameleon · Apr 14, 2013

Yarinil said:
But i read that if you use the cup feeder... you're not giving him/her the chance to exercise himself and will have problems with the MBD. Remember mine is 2 or 3 months old.. he/she is tiny!

Simple not true.

But if you are worried about it, use a large bowl (so the crickets still move around in a bigger area yet remain contained) or two or three bowls/cups.
And in addition to the crickets, use other prey types, such as silkworms, which can be placed on leaves or branches above the chameleon / at different shooting angles.

Brandonmh · Apr 14, 2013

Mine is probably about three months old (look at avitar) he feeds from the cup and usually goes on top of the hanging plasitc plants, the highest perch in the cage, or he hides in them and comes back out to check the cups. I use a 2lb clear deli salad container. I'll get a pic tomorrow for you. I know you shouldn't use a clear one, but he usually goes on the basking spot and angles down or hangs to shoot into the tall cup. I might have pic on my phone of him doing that. Also, with gut loaded crickets and supplementation also the uvb bulb, MBD should be staved off.

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

Brandonmh said:
Mine is probably about three months old (look at avitar) he feeds from the cup and usually goes on top of the hanging plasitc plants, the highest perch in the cage, or he hides in them and comes back out to check the cups. I use a 2lb clear deli salad container. I'll get a pic tomorrow for you. I know you shouldn't use a clear one, but he usually goes on the basking spot and angles down or hangs to shoot into the tall cup. I might have pic on my phone of him doing that. Also, with gut loaded crickets and supplementation also the uvb bulb, MBD should be staved off.

Yeah I use a Spray Calcium suplement and i put it for 20 minutes outside on my hand and we chill and get some D vitamin both

. Then some UVB... I'll going to make one cup tomorrow... it work with pinheads also?

I'm not sure if he/she is 2-3 months old (the breeder said that but wasnt sure also) he's the big of my pinky finger :/

Yarinil · Apr 14, 2013

sandrachameleon said:
Simple not true.

But if you are worried about it, use a large bowl (so the crickets still move around in a bigger area yet remain contained) or two or three bowls/cups.
And in addition to the crickets, use other prey types, such as silkworms, which can be placed on leaves or branches above the chameleon / at different shooting angles.

I'm still searching for a person who sale worms... the guy who sales me crickets sales also zophoba worms, but he only sells wholesale. I bought 500 pinheads for $20 because is the only person around here who sales pinheads. He also sales 1,000 for $30 and the same with the worms.

I think I'll buy some worms too.

(people will scream at home

they don't like worms my aunt have a phobia... i don't like them either but i'll have to because i want a happy and healthy cham

Help! Newbie questions!

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